The comparisons between New Zealand and India

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Comparisons, eh! Thank you Dr. Naseri for the clarification, I feel much better now than before reading your letter of explanation.

The cynic in me can’t help wondering though about the comparison of the Indian hospital to John Hopkins.

Is this bit of information supposed to make me feel more comfortable about sending my sick relatives to India to be treated?

I gather from your letter that the patients have a choice of where to go (NZ or India) or have I read this incorrectly?

If I were sick and given a choice of where to go, whether to the second best hospital in the world, or to some run-of-the-mill hospital in NZ, I will choose NZ every day.

The bit about Fortis about being the second best hospital in the world worries me though. These comparisons are not particularly meaningful or helpful to simple folks like me.

This is like comparing the makeki at Fugalei to the one at Salelologa and the one at Otara. Some punter might tell me that the one at Otara is the best or the one at Salelologa is the best, but what is this comparison based on?

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The Otara makeki might be best at serving hot food on a cold Saturday morning compared to meals served at Salelologa and Fugalei.

However, if we base our comparison on the quality of handicraft sold, then the Salelologa market would probably come out at the top.

I wonder what Fortis is great at, compared to other hospitals, especially ones in NZ.

Is this reputation based on a specific specialty, an area in which the patients are receiving treatment.

For instance, Fortis might be the second best hospital in the world for post-natal care but ranked 200th in open-heart surgery.

Should I encourage my relative to go to India based on this information?

Of course not. However, if the sickness was related to post natal, then yeah, send the patient to Fortis.

This type of comparative data is useful only when I try and impress my friend at the makeki about how little useful knowledge I have about the world.

Ma lo’u fa’aaloalo lava.

Vai Autu

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